Värnamo Hospital

The tough working environment of the surgical and intensive care unit requires a lot of the architecture that houses it. It must provide the conditions for staff to be able to save lives safely and efficiently. But it must also provide an environment that facilitates patients’ recovery from life-threatening conditions and comforts loved ones at some of life’s most difficult moments.

Architecture as a natural part of the healing process

White Arkitekter has been working on a development plan and a number of renovation and construction projects at Värnamo Hospital for several years. The largest of these projects is the new surgical and intensive care unit.

The new surgical and intensive care unit provides new premises integrated into the 1970s hospital structure and the surrounding green areas. The exterior has been inspired by the existing buildings and their solid brick facades with vertical and horizontal slits filled with glass and aluminium.

Client: Regionfastigheter Jönköpings län
Location: Värnamo, Sweden
Status: Completed in 2019
Area: 12,000 square metres
Photo: Bert Leandersson

Architecture as a natural part of the healing process and optimising patient wellbeing through evidence-based design.

Optimising patient well-being by evidence-based design

The design of the interior is based on the latest evidence about the importance of space to patients, and the whole unit has been planned using evidence-based design. White’s architects, landscape architects and lighting designers have worked together across their disciplines to ensure good navigation, attractive views of greenery and plenty of natural light wherever people are. These are three qualities that we know are not only beneficial to people, but also contribute to both a good recovery environment and a positive working environment.

The operating rooms have been located by the facade and the staff room by an inner courtyard with an outdoor area. The intensive care unit is modular, each module consisting of two patient rooms and a monitoring station in between. This balance gives the patient and their relatives privacy while reducing the spread of infection and giving staff a good overview with an adequate staff-to-patient ratio.

We’ve built on the existing architecture to create a light and green environment that facilitates patients’ recovery and alleviates stresses and strains on staff.

Anders Medin, Lead Architect

Tranquil Recovery Spaces

It’s especially important that patients in intensive care have a calm and peaceful environment that facilitates their recovery, so this is a key element in the design of the rooms. Environments full of visual and auditory disturbances risk causing hallucinations and delirium in patients who oscillate in and out of consciousness. This is why the patient rooms are separated on the ground floor and boast generous windows and outdoor spaces so that the beds can be rolled out into the fresh air.

This provides contact with the world beyond the closed ward environment and the opportunity to witness the passage of time through changing light during the day, which is hugely important for well-being. The green inner courtyards are an important element of the original architecture and are a feature that lives on in the new structure. Each courtyard has its own character and features individually designed works of art that give patients, staff, and relatives the opportunity for a moment of respite.

Contact & Team

Anders Medin

Architect

+46 706 18 86 19

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